Uniforms
by Green Rainboots
Summary: It's the uniforms that are the real reminder of the reality for Finn. Heactually really wants to burn all the uniforms, with their Dalton Academy crests. It's not like Kurt was particularly fond of them, anyway.


_I'm a little nervous about this one. I think it might be a little odd. Anyway, I hope you like it. In fact, I'm ahppy you're even willing to give it a shot, because summaries are not my strong side._

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><p>After Kurt transfers to Dalton Academy, he and Finn don't really talk. The first day, when Finn comes home from a glee practice where everyone was upset and some were bickering, and Mr. Schuester eventually told them to just go home early, Finn immediately goes to his room. He chats with Puck on Facebook for a while, talking mostly about Kurt and Dalton and Karofsky. Sam, Mike, and Artie eventually join the conversation as well. They're all pretty upset about Kurt leaving, but they all get that it's something he needs. All of them are pissed at Karofsky for scaring Kurt away like that, but aside from attacking him and completely destroying their chances at Sectionals, they don't really know what they can do about it.<p>

Kurt and Carole get home a little before dinner, having apparently been out finalizing the transfer and getting Kurt some Dalton uniforms and books.

It's the sight of the brown paper bags in the living room, with the Dalton Academy crest, filled with identical school uniforms that really make the truth hit Finn hard in the face. Kurt is really, seriously transferring to another school.

Dinner that night is pretty silent. Burt and Carole keep some form of conversation going, to maintain at least a little bit of a normal atmosphere, but Finn and Kurt only join in if they get asked a question. Finn spends most of the night staring at his plate, sometimes glancing at Kurt, who looks to be pushing his food around his plate, carefully playing with it, rather than eating it.

"Kurt doesn't want to leave," Burt says to Finn later in the evening, when they're watching a football game together. Kurt is up in his room, and Carole is cleaning the kitchen. They've been silent for the most part, but then Burt breaks it with that sentence, and Finn looks at him confused. "Kurt doesn't wanna leave McKinley. He doesn't wanna leave his friends, or the glee club. But it's not safe for him there anymore, not with Karofsky around. And as much as Kurt wants to stay with his friends, he very understandably doesn't want to be afraid of going to school every day. And I don't want him to be afraid. I want him to be safe, and **feel** safe."

"I know," Finn mumbles and turns back to the TV. "That's what I want too. But… he didn't even talk with me about it first."

"Carole and I offered him to transfer to Dalton as soon as we got out of the principal's office. And we needed an answer immediately, so that we could sort it all out with Dalton and McKinley," Burt explains. There's silence again for a few moments, before Finn breaks it.

"I feel like I've failed Kurt as a brother," he says quietly.

"You haven't," Burt assures him. "And you won't. Because you're a good guy, Finn. This is just a case where drastic measures need to be taken."

The conversation ends there, because the air has been cleared, and nothing more needs to be said right now.

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><p>It was the uniforms that really made Finn realize the truth of the situation that first night, and it's the uniforms that keep reminding him of it. Of course, the facts that Kurt doesn't walk around McKinley, isn't at glee practice, and gets home from school later than Finn are all evidence to this as well. And Finn's not <strong>that<strong> stupid, he's fully aware that Kurt has transferred. But it's when he sees Kurt in the evening, wearing a Dalton uniform, that Finn is really, literally faced with the reality that he and Kurt no longer go to the same school.

The school books and homework say it as well. When Kurt sits bent over the dining table with notes and books spread out around him, it's another visual reminder. The books look different. They're thicker and there are more of them, just like there's more homework for Kurt to do, and it's clearly at a higher level, because he seems to struggle with it more than he did at McKinley. Carole says that that may be a good thing, because Kurt is a very intelligent person, and lessons at McKinley hardly ever presented him with a challenge, but still. Finn almost wants to use the extra, harder work as an excuse to get Kurt back to McKinley, but he remembers what he agreed with the boys that first evening, and what he and Burt talked about. Kurt's safety and welfare comes first in this particular situation, before their feelings, before their chances at Sectionals. And McKinley has stopped being a safe place for Kurt.

It's the uniforms that are the real reminder of the reality for Finn. In the beginning, the first few days, they were almost like a slap in the face, and Finn had trouble facing Kurt while he was wearing them. Thankfully, that quickly passed. But still, the uniforms are a constant reminder for Finn, staring him right in the face.

Some nights, if Kurt has plans, or if he just doesn't feel like looking like a private school student, doesn't feel like looking like everyone surrounding him half the day, he changes into his own clothes, is high fashion outfits. Then he looks like he always has. On the weekends, he wears his fashionable designer clothes as well, and then somewhere in the back of Finn's head, he can pretend that he and Kurt are going back to the same school come Monday. On the nights where Kurt changes out of his uniform, Finn can silently, in the back of his head, pretend that the extravagant outfit Kurt puts on is what he's been wearing all day.

Most nights, Kurt doesn't bother changing out of his uniform. He just takes off his blazer, loosens his tie a little, unbuttons the top button on his shirt, and sometimes he untucks it from his pants. Then he walks around the house all evening wearing those grey slacks, the white shirt, the striped tie, the jumper with the Dalton crest on it, and he looks every bit the private school student that he has suddenly become. It makes him look younger, somehow, and smaller. And when he's just wearing the uniform, Finn can't pretend. He can't pretend that he and Kurt still go to the same school every day, still sing in the same choir. He can wish it, but he's faced with the fact that it's not true.

Finn is incredibly sad at this, sometimes. He wants Kurt to feel safe and welcome at McKinley, and be a part of New Directions. But as much as Finn wants Kurt to be his classmate and teammate again, he can't deny that the transfer has been good for Kurt. Since transferring to Dalton, Kurt has, undeniably, seemed distinctly happier. He doesn't seem quite as drawn in on himself, he eats more, he doesn't look nearly as tired, and he's gone back to chattering merrily while cooking and eating and cleaning and whatever. Kurt does still look tired, but then again, his school work is harder, and his commute to and from school is longer, so he has reason to still look tired. And he does sometimes go all quiet, but every time Finn asks him about it, Kurt usually says it's because of Blaine. A few times in the beginning, it was because the transition was hard.

"It's really weird, being in The Warblers. And sometimes… I don't always feel all that welcome in the club, to be honest," Kurt admitted one evening. "But I'm sure it'll pass."

Finn has a feeling that, at this point, Kurt wasn't actually sure that it would pass, he just hoped it would.

At school, Finn has a very strong urge to break rules every time he sees a football player, because he really just wants to kick their heads in. It's not all that unusual for him. They've been mocking him ever since he joined the glee club, they've been bullying Rachel even longer, but with Kurt at Dalton out of fear for the jocks, Finn's urge to kick them all in the nuts increases.

Karofsky walks around the halls of McKinley with his chin up, looking as high and mighty as ever, and it pisses Finn off more than the slushy facials and the cruel jokes. The asshole shouldn't be damn proud that he'd scared off another student. He should be showing some modesty or something. And every time Finn sees him, he feels like giving Karofsky a very hard kick in the nuts for what he did to Kurt. But no, Karofsky struts around the school, and Finn does his best to just ignore him. At football practice, he barely acknowledges Karofsky unless absolutely necessary. He doesn't want to give Karofsky the satisfaction of a violent reaction from Kurt's protective stepbrother.

"Rise above it. You're better than him," Carole says whenever Finn rants at home about how annoying Karofsky is.

"Don't get yourself into trouble over this. We've dealt with the situation," Kurt says.

"It' great that you wanna protect your brother and all, but do you really think he's worth the trouble now that Kurt's no longer in danger?" is what Burt says. And with all this in mind, Finn just keeps his head as high as Karofsky's, and walks the halls as proudly as he can.

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><p>When Kurt and Burt come to the school to talk with Karofsky and his dad, Finn secretly hopes that Kurt slaps Karofsky. He has a hard time believing that Karofsky has just changed, just by watching a few movies online. It's not like the school has never tried to stop bullying by giving speeches on the most severe consequences bullying has caused in the past. Also, Karofsky hasn't shown any signs of even <strong>thinking<strong> about what he causes to other people, so it seems like quite a drastic change, and Puck is absolutely right.

Why should they trust Karofsky?

Karofsky is right as well. He needs to earn their trust. But Finn doesn't think Karofsky could ever earn his trust. He didn't have it to begin with, and now, he could join glee club and tell everyone his darkest secrets to show that he trusts them, but it wouldn't make Finn trust him.

Kurt doesn't slap Karofsky. He does, however, happily agree to transfer back to the new, safer McKinley, and that makes Finn want to jump for joy. He promises Burt that he'll keep an eye out for Kurt, because neither of them trust Karofsky, and neither of them are completely sure that Kurt will be safe. He wasn't before. But still, Finn is thrilled to have Kurt back at McKinley, and he announces it proudly when he skips into glee rehearsal in the afternoon.

"Guess what?" he asks, not caring that he's interrupting Mr. Shue. "Kurt's coming back to McKinley!"

The rest of them erupt in squeals and claps and questions.

"Really? No joke? He's coming back?"

"When will he start again?"

"He'll be joining glee club again, right?"

"You tell him that I'll be keeping an eye out for Karofsky, make sure he stays in check."

"I can't believe Karofsky convinced him."

"I'm so excited, we'll have Kurt back!"

"We are **so** gonna win Nationals now!"

Mercedes and Tina want to celebrate with Kurt after glee practice, but when they text Kurt to ask him, he replies that he and Blaine are going out once their short, impromptu Warbler meeting has finished. And they all get that Kurt and Blaine probably want some time alone, now that they'll be seeing each other a lot less.

That night, while Carole tries to teach Burt how to cook Kurt's favorite meal, Finn helps Kurt gather his uniforms and school books. He's going to Dalton tomorrow morning to return everything. Finn really isn't very good at folding clothes, so Kurt teaches him the simplest way to fold shirts and pants. Finn actually really wants to burn all the uniforms, with their Dalton Academy crests. He wants to burn them to make up for all the times he had to stare at them, and wish that Kurt didn't have to wear them. It's not like Kurt was particularly fond of the uniforms, anyway. He never likes not being able to show his individuality.

Finn actually suggests to Kurt that they burn at least one jumper or one blazer, but Kurt just rolls his eyes, a patient and almost fond smile on his face, and says they're giving the uniforms back to Dalton Academy, so that future students who want to buy used uniforms can have them instead. And Finn does get the logic behind that. The tuition to Dalton in itself is not exactly cheap.

The next morning, on Kurt's first day back to McKinley, Finn can easily tell the difference between this morning and the morning of Kurt's first day at Dalton. He was a lot more nervous and a lot less cheery, although he had been very optimistic. But this morning, Kurt is humming himself as he gets dressed in something not a school uniform and does his hair, he's smiling widely, and he doesn't seem nervous about coming back to the school he was too afraid to be at just a few months ago. And he's welcomed back with open arms and huge smiles, and, courtesy of Mercedes, he gets a big entrance, because the Warblers sing him a goodbye song. Finn can clearly see that the happiness of it all is a little spoiled for Kurt when he sees his old friends there. It had been hard for Kurt to say goodbye to the New Directions. It was probably a little hard to say goodbye to the Warblers as well. But he looks mostly pained when he has to say goodbye to Blaine. In fact, he nearly starts crying, and Finn honestly doesn't blame him, because even oblivious, dimwitted Finn can see that Kurt is absolutely smitten with Blaine. It's nice, Kurt deserves to be happy and have a wonderful boyfriend.

Unfortunately, not the entire world, or even all of McKinley, agree with Finn on that.

When the glee club performs "Born This Way" in the auditorium, everyone dressed in their custom t-shirts, Finn realizes that what Kurt has written on his t-shirt is probably the heaviest, most serious, most life-altering thing any of them have had to accept about themselves, when you look at their t-shirts.

_**LIKES BOYS**_

Kurt does indeed like boys, and there's nothing wrong with that, at all. He shouldn't be ridiculed or bullied for falling in love with boys. But Kurt has accepted being gay, and he has accepted that not the entire world will embrace him for it. Finn has always assumed that Kurt was gay, even before Kurt came out. And he sort of assumed that Kurt always knew as well. But Kurt has told him that it took him a while to figure it out, and even longer to accept it. Not because Kurt himself had anything against homosexuality, not at all, but because he knew, even back then, that his life would be at least twice as hard if he was gay.

So compared to Tina's _**BROWN EYES**_, or Finn's _**CAN'T DANCE**_, or Rachel's _**NOSE**_, Kurt's _**LIKES BOYS**_ has been a lot heavier on his shoulders, than their brown eyes, bad dancing, and nose have rested on their shoulders.

"You know, two years ago, I never thought I'd grow to even **remotely** like Kurt," Puck says musingly to Finn when they're resting in the auditorium after their performance. "Not even when we joined glee club. I always thought I'd feel the same about him. I don't know what happened, but this entire year, I've started to really like everyone in this club. And I missed Kurt while he was at Dalton. I hated Karofsky for scaring him away. I'm glad to have him back."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean," Finn says with a short nod. He watches Kurt on the stage for a moment. Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Mike, and Artie are discussing something. The way they're gesturing at their shirts means that they're probably swapping stories about why they wrote what they wrote.

Kurt's clothes are almost identical to theirs. Black jeans and a white t-shirt with large black print on the front. He looks just like the rest of them in his clothes, just like he looked like Blaine when he was at Dalton. But this time, it doesn't upset Finn in the least that Kurt is wearing something identical to what his glee club teammates are wearing, because it's not a school uniform with a blazer and slacks. It's a uniform for the club's performance, and this time, it's the right club he's performing with.

And that's a reminder Finn can easily live with.

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><p><em>If you made it this far, then great, I appreciate it, thank you very much!<em>

_Review?_


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